Of 234-million Americans using cellphones, a quarter are using Samsung devices. LG is next at 19.6%, followed by Apple at 13.5%. And Android now serves half the smartphone market.
comScore today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending February 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, crossing the 50-percent threshold in February to capture a majority share for the first time in its history.
OEM Market Share
For the three-month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.4 percent share. Apple captured the #3 ranking in February with 13.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), followed by Motorola at 12.8 percent. HTC moved into the #5 position in February at 6.3 percent (up 0.4 percentage points).
Top Mobile OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Nov-11
Feb-12
Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers
100.0%
100.0%
N/A
Samsung
25.6%
25.6%
0.0
LG
20.5%
19.4%
-1.1
Apple
11.2%
13.5%
2.3
Motorola
13.7%
12.8%
-0.9
HTC
5.9%
6.3%
0.4
Smartphone Platform Market Share
More than 104 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February, up 14 percent versus November. Google Android’s share of the smartphone market eclipsed 50 percent in February, an increase of 17 percentage points since February 2011. Apple ranked second with 30.2 percent of the smartphone market (up 5 percentage points versus year ago), followed by RIM at 13.4 percent, Microsoft at 3.9 percent and Symbian at 1.5 percent.
Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Nov-11
Feb-12
Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers
100.0%
100.0%
N/A
46.9%
50.1%
3.2
Apple
28.7%
30.2%
1.5
RIM
16.6%
13.4%
-3.2
Microsoft
5.2%
3.9%
-1.3
Symbian
1.5%
1.5%
0.0
Mobile Content Usage
In February, 74.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 2.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 49.5 percent of subscribers (up 4.6 percentage points), while browsers were used by 49.2 percent (up 4.8 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.1 percentage points to 36.1 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 32.3 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 24.8 percent listened to music on their phones (up 3.1 percentage points).
Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Nov-11
Feb-12
Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers
100.0%
100.0%
N/A
Sent text message to another phone
72.6%
74.8%
2.2
Used downloaded apps
44.9%
49.5%
4.6
Used browser
44.4%
49.2%
4.8
Accessed social networking site or blog
33.0%
36.1%
3.1
Played Games
29.7%
32.3%
2.6
Listened to music on mobile phone
21.7%
24.8%
3.1
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